Wii Games for Parties
When people enter a house with a Wii, chances are it's going to be fired up before the night is through. Now we all know that the prepackaged Wii Sports is great fun, but what else can you play with a small (or large) group of friends?
The Wii is home to many party games, too many in fact, and not all are created equal. However, there are a few outstanding ones that will keep people entertained as minutes quickly turn into hours. The first is the somewhat inexplicably overlooked WarioWare: Smooth Moves. For the uninitiated, WarioWare is a successful game franchise consisting of amazingly short mini-games that are fired at you at a rapid pace. Often times you have about five seconds to figure out what they want you to do (Put the apple in the basket with your elephant tusk! Pick his nose! Seriously) and then successfully accomplish it. This is a wii game made for the Wii. You hold the Wiimote in a variety of different positions (all given nicknames and explained by a hilariously relaxed disembodied voice that dishes out instructions and bizarre bits of randomness that seemingly never gets old).
If head-to-head competition is more your thing, perhaps one of the Rayman: Raving Rabbids games is for you. Again, you are playing a series of mini-games, only this time the games are substantially longer in duration, and you're often playing for time vs a friend. Rayman also utilizes the Nunchuck as well as the Wiimote, and although you'll often be connecting and removing the attachment, it opens up more possibilities and is a welcome addition to the experience.
For the younger set there is Mario Party 8, which as you can tell from the title is the eighth entry in the unstoppable Mario Party franchise. Again, it's a series of min-games, only this time they unfold on a series of game boards. Think of it as an interactive board game that does it's best to mess with you (all in good fun).
If driving is more your style you can't do better than the original and still best kart game out there, Mario Kart Wii. Pick your favorite Nintendo character, choose a car (or bike!), a track, and you're off. Not only can four people play at once, you can go online and challenge friends (new and old) to races and challenges. The classic Nintendo wackiness is present here and in full force. They have really made a concerted effort to focus on the fun aspect and you won't be disappointed. Neither will your friends.